Tiger Woods Timeline

A glance at the golf sensation's life and career

by Mike Morrison and Christine Frantz

Born Eldrick T.
Woods on Dec. 30 in Southern California to Earl
Woods, a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, and
Kultida, a native of Thailand. Given the nickname
“Tiger” after Earl's friend Vuong Dang Phong, a Vietnamese soldier with the same
nickname.

1976

Six Months Old

Sees his father
hitting golf balls into a net and begins to imitate his swing.

Age 5

Age 8

Age 15

Becomes the youngest U.S.
Junior Amateur Champion in golf history. Voted Southern California
Amateur Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.
Also voted Golf Digest Amateur Player of the Year.

Age 16

Successfully defends title at
the U.S. Junior National Championships, becoming the first
golfer to win the title more than once (he would win the following
year as well). Competes in his first PGA
Tour event, the Nissan Los Angeles Open.

Age 18

Age 19

Defends title as U.S.
Amateur champion. Voted Pac-10 Player of the Year, NCAA First
Team All-American, and Stanford's Male Freshman of the Year (an award
that encompasses all sports). Participates in the Masters, his first PGA major tournament, and
ties for 41st as the only amateur to make the cut.

Age 20

Becomes the first golfer in
history to win three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles. Wins the
NCAA individual men's championship with a 69-67-69-80-285. Ties the British Open record for an amateur with a
75-66-70-70-281. Turns pro in August and immediately signs
endorsement deals worth $40 million from Nike and $20 million
from Titleist. Wins the Las Vegas International and the
Disney/Oldsmobile Classic—earning close to $800,000 in just
eight events. Voted Sports
Illustrated Sportsman of the Year.

Age 21

Leading money winner on the PGA Tour with a record
$2,066,833 in earnings. Wins first major championship, The Masters, by an amazing 12
strokes, the widest margin of victory the tournament has ever seen.
Becomes youngest Masters winner ever, and the first of African or
Asian descent. Wins three other PGA events. Achieves No. 1
world ranking in his 42nd week as a pro. Voted PGA Player of the Year and Associated Press Male Athlete of the
Year.

Age 22

In an "off" year, wins just
one official PGA event (BellSouth Classic) and finishes fourth
on the PGA Tour money list with $1,841,117.
Still makes 19 cuts out of 20 tournaments played, and closes the year
with a No. 1 world ranking.

Age 23

Earns the most money on the PGA Tour with a record
$6,616,585 in winnings for the year. Records 16 top-10 finishes
in 21 PGA Tour starts and makes the cut in all 21. Wins second PGA
major title with a one-shot victory over Sergio Garcia in the PGA Championship. Records eight PGA
victories overall, including the final four official tournaments
of the year. Defeats David Duval at the Showdown at Sherwood, the first live
network prime time golf telecast. Member of U.S. Team that recorded a
tremendous final-day comeback to win the Ryder Cup. Voted PGA Player of the
Year and AP Male Athlete of the Year for the second time in
three years.

Age 24

Opens the year with wins at the
Mercedes Championship and AT&T Pebble
Beach National Pro-Am, his fifth and sixth consecutive PGA
Tour victories (the longest streak since Ben Hogan in 1948). Wins U.S. Open at Pebble Beach by a record 15
strokes (65-69-71-67--272), the largest margin of victory ever
recorded at a major tournament. Breaks or
ties a total of nine records at the U.S. Open.
Becomes the Tour's all-time career money leader.

Becomes the fifth player in history (and youngest
ever) to complete the career Grand Slam by winning
the British Open by eight strokes. His
19-under 269 is the best score ever at St. Andrews
and the lowest score (in relation to par) at a major tournament.

Defeats Bob May in a three-hole playoff at Valhalla in Louisville
to win his second consecutive PGA Championship and third consecutive
major title. He joins Ben Hogan (1953) as the only two players to win three majors in one season.

Age 25

In April, wins the Masters tournament, becomes the first
golfer to be reigning champion of
all four majors simultaneously. Wins five overall PGA events and takes
home PGA Player of the Year honors for the third consecutive year.

Age 27

Age 28

Early in the year, Tiger
became the first player to pass the $40 million mark in career
earnings.

A tough year for Tiger, he loses his number one
ranking to a hot Vijay Singh after Singh, Woods, and Adam Scott battle
it out at the Deutsche Bank Championship over the Labor Day weekend.
Tiger had been at the top since Aug. 1999—a record 264
weeks.

Tiger and Swedish model/nanny Elin Nordegren get married
in a $1.5 million ceremony on Barbados in early October.

Age 29

In January, Tiger wins the
Buick Invitational, ending a slump that started in 2003. The last
full-field PGA tournament he won was the Western Open in July
2003.

In April, Tiger defeats Chris DiMarco in a playoff to win
the Masters for the fourth time. Tiger joins six-time winner Jack
Nicklaus and other four-time winner Arnold Palmer as the only players
to win four or more Masters.

With a commanding 5-stroke
victory, Tiger takes the British Open trophy for the second time. This
is his 10th major title and he joins Jack Nicklaus in being the only
players to win all four major tournaments at least twice.

Age 30

A good omen for
Tiger—for the fourth time in his professional career he opens
the season with a win. He wins the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines
in an exciting three-way playoff, defeating Nathan Green and Jose
Maria Olazabal.

Earl Woods, 74, Tiger's father and the guiding
force behind his career, dies of cancer in early May.

In June,
Tiger returns to the links and fails to make the cut for the U.S. Open
by three strokes. He had made the cut in 39 consecutive majors, a
record he shares with Jack Nicklaus.

Tiger snags his third
British Open claret jug with an 18-under-par score. His 11th major
win, he wins by two strokes over Chris DiMarco, who also recently lost
a parent (his mother on July 4).

Tiger wins the Buick Open in
August becoming the youngest player to win 50 PGA tournaments. Jack
Nicklaus, who had previously held the record, had been 33 years old
when he snagged his 50th title.

Tiger cruises through the last
round of the PGA Championship to win the title 5 strokes behind his
closest competitor and with an 18-under-par score for the tourney. He
racks up his 12th major tournament win and continues his pursuit of
Jack Nicklaus's records—the Golden Bear had 18 major victories
in his career.

In August, Tiger braves four straight days of triple-digit
temperatures at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to win
his fourth PGA Championship and 13th major title. He shoots 8-under
par for the tournament and wins by two strokes over Woody Austin and
Ernie Els, who both make late charges but are no match for Tiger's
tournament-long consistency. Woods is improves his record to 13-0 when
leading a major championship going into the final day

Age 32

In January, Tiger wins the
2008 Buick Invitational by eight strokes, marking his sixth win at the
event and his 62nd PGA Tour win.

On June 16, Tiger wins the
2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines Golf course in San Diego, California.
Parring the 91st hole in a sudden death match against Roco Mediate,
Tiger claimed his third win at the event.

Days after winning
the U.S. Open, Woods announces that needs to have reconstructive
anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery on his left knee. He takes
the remainder of the season off after the procedure.

2009

Eight months after undergoing knee surgery, Tiger returns to the tour in February, playing in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.

In August, Tiger wins his 70thd PGA Tour win, prevailing by four strokes over Padraig Harrington and Robert Allenby at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Tiger was in a one-car accident in the early hours of November 27. He hit a fire hydrant and a tree while backing out of his driveway in Orlando, Florida. Initially listed in "serious condition," Woods was released from the hospital with facial cuts. Many media outlets reported that the accident occurred after Woods and his wife, Elin Nordegren, had an argument. A series of women came forward following the accident, claiming to have had romantic relationships with Woods. In December, Woods acknowledged that he had been unfaithful to his wife and announced he was taking an "indefinite break from professional golf" to "to focus my attention on being a better husband, father, and person."